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you're watching cbs5 news in high-definition. it has been exactly one week since japan was hit with a massive quake. how close crews say they are to ending the potential nuclear crisis. a surfing super star killed on the waves. the message his family left for him. sent to work nearly seven years ago the first of its kind spacecraft orbiting mercury and what we could learn from the first spacecraft to ever orbit mercury. >> good evening i'm dana king. >> i'm ken bastida. smoke is being seen tonight rising from a building housing a damaged nuclear reactor in japan. and it begs the question is anything working to cool it down and prevent a disaster? >> now, that uncertainty has people confused and racing to get out of the country. charlie d'agata reports crews are won step away from ending the crisis. >> reporter: a steady stream of electricity could be the next best hope for cooling down

reacors at the fukushima nuclear plant. japanese officials say the power line to one of the reactors is ready. >> if the cooling systems in the reactors and fuel ponds are basically sound then the power comes on, then we might look at that moment as the beginning of the ends of this crisis. >> reporter: still of great concern. 11,000 spent fuel rods. in one reactor unit the rods were exposed and could catch fire spewing a harmful spew of uranium into the air. they spent thursday dousing the plant with water but spiking radiation levels forced them to keep their distance. another set of workers, more than 300 is inside the plant and pumping sea water into the reactors trying to avert a nuclear crisis. panic is palpable. passport lines long and airports jammed. thursday the u.s. government offered to evacuate u.s. citizens. >> i'm concerned because i really doesn't know the situation about the radiation.

it keeps changing. >> reporter: many japanese are fleeing the stricken northeast region and moving to shelters like this one in the northwest. here they found a place on the floor to sleep and a little bit of food. but the misery from the original disaster still hangs heavy over much of japan. new video of the tsunami shows the terror the water rushed higher and relief as neighbors rescued neighbors. thank you, this woman says. i thought i was going to die. japan's top government spokesman says the country is now willing to accept help from the u.s. military in tackling the nuclear crisis and are examining exactly what next action step to take. detecting a plume of radioactive particles over the pacific ocean tonight from japan and tiny particles are already falling in the bay area. this as public health officials down play a plume descending on

california. that plume is being monitored by stations around the world and all experts agree that whatever radiation may drift over the state, it will be too small to cause any health problems. they say anyone would be exposed to more radiation flying in an airplane from san francisco to washington, dc. >> you think about a chest x- ray a person may get. the amount of radiation from this plume would be 1/10th of that. >> shifting winds and rain in the forecast make it even more unlikely that high levels of radiation will reach the state. and even with that, experts say there will not be a problem for say surfers on sun bathers on the street. voting to authorize a no fly zone over libya. authorizing all measures to halt moammar gadhafi's advances against opposition sources and to prevent the slaughter of civilians. that resolution was approved

with ten votes. china, russia, germany, india and brazil all abstained. opposition is believed to be imminent. the funding for national public radio has been cut off by uncle sam. the house voted along party lines today to end federal funding. republicans say it makes good fiscal sense and democrats call it an ideological attack. the vote comes after a recent scandal in which an executive was caught on tape saying the organization does not need federal funds and that the gop had been hijacked by the tea party. a deadly reminder of the dangers in the wild waves at maverick. a surf everybody died yesterday. grace lee on how friends and family are remembering him tonight. >> reporter: giant waves lured

away the hawaiian native to maverick, near half moon bay. the prosurfer was charging 40 to 50-foot waves yesterday. his friends say it was an inspiration to watch such grace. it was around this time of day that the man was hit by two separate waves. witnesses say that they didn't see him again for at least 20 minutes and when they found him he was a mile down shore at the harbor mouth where rescue crews found him, tried to revive him but were unable to. according to fellow surfers the conditions were extreme and danger. even for the most experienced. >> well, the size of the wave and just watching it you can see how the wave goes straight to the bottom in spots. if you get in the wrong spot at the wrong time you're going to get drilled. >> reporter: today there were tributes left for the 35-year- old man. they were just a few feet from a memorial built for a hawaii surfer that died at maverick in 1994. on the beach a line of flowers

were left in his honor with messages that break the heart. one appears to be from his two young daughters. another from his wife who wrote to the love of my life forever. >> it is hard to express. i mean, anytime someone in this surfing fraternity dies or gets hurt, it is hard on everyone. >> reporter: he was well known inside the surfing world as part of the elite crew on the north show in hawaii. he is credited with riding the biggest wave at a spot known as the himilayas. only the second surfer to be taken by maverick. >> he was just named the north shore underground surfer of the year in february and he won $25,000 for that honor. he used part of the money to catch some of those large waves

at maverick. >> boy, that's tough. >> a sad day. surfing world is so small and to have lost him and then to have lost andy irons in november been a tough winter for hawaii. >> thank you, grace. we are going to turn to roberta. we do have a high surf advisory in effect from friday 3:00 p.m. through saturday 9:00 p.m. this is what your morning commute will look like and we do have pockets of heavy rain to the north of the north bay. when you see these areas of pink here that means snow. how far this snow will fall, how low it will go. we have got that complete details with our pinpoint forecast. >> move over 408, there is a new number in town. the new area code that could be coming to a phone number near you. and it is nearly seven years in the making. what we could learn from the first spacecraft to ever orbit mercury. ,,

is it a threat. >> we will keep an eye on the radioactive plume expected to arrive in california tomorrow. >> tough times for highway 1 commuters. the difficult fix and alternate routes. a windy storm on the way. what to expect for your morning commute. >> catch the early edition tomorrow morning on cbs5. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

. top the public got its chance to sound off on a plan to add a new area code to the south bay. there is a shortage of 408 area codes. 669 will be rolled out by the ends of next year. now, it is not clear how the area codes will be divided. whether the area codes will be split up geographically or if 669 will be given just to new customers. some neighbors say they are worried that getting assigned a new code could cost them. >> a change in your business

cards and your stationary and everything else. >> the telecommunications industry is recommending that the new codes go to new customers only. a history making project in space is underway right now by a bay area science lab. a spacecraft makes its first orbit around the planet closest to the sun. the objective to learn how its radio active surface can help detect nuclear and radio active threats here on earth. elizabeth cook explains. >> as it gets darker and darker. >> reporter: most bay area residents would not consider a cloudy thursday night to be a great time to star gaze. but for this physicist tonight's sky was special. >> we have been waiting for this moment for about seven years. >> reporter: morgan and a team of physicists from the lawrence livermore national laboratory develop the gama ray grs embarking on an historical

mission on board nasa's spacecraft bound for planet mercury. after traveling in space faster than a bullet for seven years it finally made its destination. >> really exciting because any money now the spacecraft will reach mercury and go into orbit. >> reporter: not only is this the first time it has orbited mercury but it is poised to gather groundbreaking information for the gama rays emitted from the surface of th planet. >> they are particularly important to science because the x-rays act as a finger print for the elements that give at the point off. >> reporter: scientists hope the data received will solve many of the mysteries surrounding the closest planet to the sun. >> this is a proto type of the detector used to study and measure gama rays coming from the surface of mercury. now, morgan hopes this invention will one day lead to more missions here on earth. specifically dealing with national security. and detecting radio active

materials. >> for example, if something were to happen at a reactor like what is happening in japan right now or also to try to monitor borders and like the oakland port, for example. >> reporter: in oakland, elizabeth cook, cbs5. >> and we are coming right back. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

roberta tosses back to set got a little sunshine today but may not last long, right, roberta? >> we did have some sunshine today, ken, and had clear skies tonight to capture this. the almost full moon over the san jose area on this st. patrick's day. the moon even a little green today. 97% full. it will be at its fullest state on saturday when it is alluded to as a super moon. 14% larger than it has been in the past 18 years. but we won't see it. right now a line of showers passing through the north bay wanting to take a nose dive in towards san francisco but that's nothing even though we have some pretty moderate rain. tonight with scattered showers temperatures into the 40s and 50s. we have got a bigger system upstream heading this way so as you leave the house for your morning commute you will be wet in the north bay and around the coast then everybody gets wet during our friday. look at our pinpoint forecast. and where you see the shades of

yellow, that is the front as it slices out of the north bay towards the eastern portion of our district in towards san jose. by lunch hour. when you note the areas of pink that is snowfall. we will see a little bit of a dusting in the highest peaks around the bay area by saturday morning. snow level 3000 feet. the winds out of the south. not surprising to see a wind advisory. weighs up to 16 feet. this advisory through saturday. tomorrow the temperatures with the rain. the gusty winds. the threat of a thunderstorm containing small hail and snow level down to 15,000 feet. brisk day. stray showers. more significant system working its way into our forecast on sunday bringing us again up to about 2 inches of rain. that's a fast mover, though.

meanwhile we will be in and out of the rain through wednesday. how about this. this is from antioch saying their little chihuahua likes to celebrate st. patrick's day. >> she has got a pot of gold in her mouth. >> does she? >> well let's say just it will be raining cats and dogs. after sunday's significant storm yet another bigger storm on wednesday. so it will keep on rolling. here is a question. what's the good question? we will be right back. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

just so happens that were five fantastic finishes in the ncaa tournament. it is rare we start the sportscast with the top 5 but it just so happens there were five fantastic finishes in the ncaa tournament. >> they did it again. >> here comes the play.

goodman at the free-throw line. jumper. >> harper. >> penn state. don't want to get beat. fernandez. frazier defends to advance. the owls survived. >> 5 seconds left. with three. with two. the runner. goes down with 2 seconds to go. kentucky up by 2. >> i think we did it. >> yes, great showing by princeton came up a little bit short. by now you've heard the scandal. brandon davies suspended for having premarital sex. violation of school rules. terriers looking for an upset. >> at the other end. >> giving them the lead in the

first half. give him an inch he will bury the shot. up 5 after the long three. second half. parts the red sea. the easy layup. ahead by 8. and then watch this. his pathented step back jump shot. it is impossible to defend. 32 points, 7 assists. 74-66 the final. next up gonzaga. ucla's shoes are the ugliest in the tournament but you tell it to the big man who bulldozed his way to 14 points against michigan state. erasing a 20-point deficit. within one point with seconds to go. they put malcolm lee on the line who missed it. spartans need a miracle. down by two. called for traveling. even if it had gone in it would have been traveling. ucla advances to play florida. warriors guard charlie lee went to three straight final fours when he played at michigan state. the tournament back in 2000 had

a much better ending for the spartans. >> we will talk about something that will stay with us forever. when you go back to michigan state everyone talks about that national championship team. >> magic at michigan state. >> would you trade places with anyone for a day to go back and be a part of the tournament now? >> no, i don't think so. i love watching them but if i traded places i would have to trade my paycheck and i don't really want to do that right now. >> neither would i. charlie bell. he has been to hollywood, been to redwood now in san jose. sharks hosting the wild. joe pavelski. two minutes. defendsers. third goal of the season. third period joe pavelski with an assist. this time sets up marleau. 28th of the season. wild had their chances to tie but they couldn't get it past him. finishing with 30 saves tonight. the cha beat the wild 3-2.

it was a long day in the ncaa tournament but a really good one. so we will go with that. >> we are also cooking, right. >> i did not have a good day. >> it wasn't a good day for a lot of people but that's what the ncaa tournament is all about. >> well, what happened dennis? >> well, you know, sometimes i make mistakes. >> are you out? >> no, i'm not out. all my four teams are still alive. >> my team has done a lot. >> my teams are still alive. >> san diego state is still alive. >> we will be right back. >> from tip off to final buzzer. live at cbssf.com/sports. e-mail, call or tweet in your questions and get them answered on our live streaming broadcast. cbssf.com/sports. let's see you fly now! [ laughs ] look, more frequent flyer red tape. not on my watch. let that family fly! [ tires screech ] i just wanted to use miles

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>> little rain tomorrow too, right, roberta. >> not a little a lot. 2 inches. >> when will it start? >> by the morning commute. >> something to look forward to. >> david letterman is coming up next. captions by: caption colorado, llc 800-775-7838 email: comments@captioncolorado.com

good evening, and welcome to the verizon wrap up show, a look back at the action from the men's ncaa tournament. let's get to the madness. down in the east region kentucky taking on princeton out of the ivy league. princeton down two when dan with a step-back jumper in the lane ties it at 57. same score time running out. brandon knight with his fir two points of the game. the layup with two seconds left and kentucky survives. here's the head coach after the

tough season-ending loss. >> i was very excited and i wanted to demand from my players that we -- that we live up to that. >> and you don't think this means a lot. kentucky to take on the win over the west virginia-clemson match-up. clemson with one of the first four in games. the jam inside, the tigers by 8. but perhaps they ran out of steam in the second half. dalton pepper with the steal and in for the jam. and west virginia cruises from there. 84-76, the final. and coming up after this break, st. john's puts on their dancing shoes for the first time since 2002. a tough test against the gonzaga bulldogs.

welcome back to the verizon wrap up show. looking at st. john's in the mile-high city taking on gonzaga and the bulldogs were sharp from the get go. steven gray with the steal and the lay in. second half the johnnies try to make a run. finishing with authority. it makes it a 10-point game.

and gonzaga had an answer. steven gray with the perfect pass. and gonzaga goes up 17. the red storm's season comes to a disappointing end. and waiting for the zags, arguably the most used name in this tournament, byu. per debt first in scoring in the nation. 10-25 from the field for 32 points. more than enough as byu wins. staying in the southeast, number one seed pittsburgh blows out unc ashville. butler defeats old dominion on a buzzer beater. kansas state knocksst out utah state. ucla defeats michigan state. and number two seed florida by 28 over uc santa barbara. richmond over vanderbilt. and morehead state shocks

louisville. uconn all over bucknell. and cincinnati defeats missouri. san diego state moves to the next round. and temple wins over penn state. and don't forget another day of ncaa basketball here on cbs tomorrow. coverage gets underway at 12:00 and it is texas and oklahoma. and the night session begins at 7:00. north carolina takes on long island university. i'm otis livingston. thanks from the verizon wrap up show. we'll see you back here tomorrow night.